August 24, 2011

According to Olivia, our earthquake yesterday was caused by Willie the Giant stomping on the ground outside the house. It took her less than 5 minutes after I settled myself down in the living room to come up with that explanation! I love her imagination!!

Yes, a 5.9 magnitude hit our house yesterday afternoon, worse quake in over 3 decades. I was sitting downstairs at the computer while the kids were resting/napping upstairs. Oh, and it was Olivia's first day of pre-k, so this day will be extra special day! All of a sudden, I felt the windows shake. Curious...I didn't know artillery fire was occurring today.

Then it didn't stop, it got worse. My brain is going through all the different possibilities of what this might be, but earthquake didn't even cross my mind until I realized the kids were on the second floor. Have you ever seen a 7 month pregnant lady bound up 15 steps to collect her kids from a natural disaster? Me neither til yesterday. As I climb the steps, I trip but caught myself with my hands. Again, did you know that as you climb the stairs to a second level, the shaking gets worse? My brain knew this but in my state of mind, I completely forgot. I hit the top floor, round the corner, bracing myself with my hands against the walls as the house continues to shake, and make my way down the hallway.

Olivia is just laying in bed as I burst into her room. "What is it mommy?" What, you don't feel your bed is shaking like you're on an amusement park ride? I pull her out of bed and plop her in her doorway, "Stay here in the door frame!" At least I remembered the safest place is in the doorway if getting outside isn't an option. I tear into Justin's room just as the shaking starts to subside. He was super tired but his eyes were open, telling me he felt the rumble. I stand in the middle of his room as the shaking dies down, also hoping he'd just put his head back down and close his eyes. No such luck, he wanted out of his crib.

My heart is racing, and I immediately take the kids downstairs and find my cell phone. First attempt to call Ryan, fail. Network busy! Great!! I walk outside expecting to see everyone out of their homes, but there were just a few neighbor's out. We exchange the "holy cow's" and "was that really...?" and I text Ryan. "We just had an earthquake. We're ok. Hurry home!" He was scheduled to come home in about an hour but walked through the door 15 mins later.

Our eyes met and then everything came pouring out. Can you believe that?...CRAZY!!... Did you feel that?... Where were you?... How long did it take to realize what was going on?. Apparently, he was in a large auditorium finishing up a lecture, gathering his papers when the earthquake hit. All the Captains stare at each other in disbelief. They thought the same thing I did, was that really an earthquake? Then it started to sink into their brains that if they felt the shaking, their families felt the same thing about 2 miles away. They were dismissed immediately.

Needless to say, since the quake was felt up in NYC, news central, it was all over the news stations in less than 5 mins. Local stations reported the epicenter was in Mineral, VA located about 63 miles southwest of our house, 1.5 hrs by car. It was a 5.9 magnitude quake, buildings start falling at 4.5, and a very shallow quake, making it more dangerous. We were lucky not to feel any aftershocks this far north, but I will always remember yesterday.

To celebrate yet another historic weather event, we all went up to the commissary and stocked up on non-perishables for Hurricane Irene scheduled to hit us this weekend. Fun time for our family. Olivia's first day of school and an earthquake...epic! We ended the day by going up to DC and enjoying the Sunset Parade at the Marine Memorial. Despite Olivia not napping and Justin's rude awakening from his nap, they both did awesome and we all enjoyed ourselves.

August 9, 2011

With Ryan having already gone back to school, my goal was to have every box unpacked...yeah right, in this house hold, forget it!! I know I need to relax and take a load off my feet, however, I have this nagging feeling to get everything in its place. Nesting maybe?

After having cleaned out our old house in Oklahoma to sell it, everything was so much easier to keep clean. Of course, I only had two little one's and myself to keep after so it was pretty easy to clean up after meal time because I rarely cooked full meals. I want to get this house feeling like everything has its own place, but I'm struggling...big time.

Not only am I dealing with a bigger house with a few less storage options (we had built in shelving in all of our closets) despite having more linen closet space and a huge laundry/storage room. We've already given several boxes away of things we do not need anymore and have many more to give, but bending over and picking up every little thing is getting to me. I tire our much more quickly. Yes, I am 27 weeks pregnant but feel more like 34 weeks!!

I want to relax with my kids, play with my family, cook wonderful meals for my husband, but feel everything else gets in the way. It was hard for me to fall asleep last night because I could not shut my brain down thinking of all the things that need to get done. Finding wall space for all our pictures, putting them up or back in a box, getting a desk for Ryan's school work, do we need a bench next to the back door for shoes, bags, my purse and diaper bag? yes, but what kind, the budget needs to be looked at again and recalculated. Lots going on inside my head, not to mention our little baby boy loves to go his gymnastics when I lay down to sleep!

Ryan is so supportive of me during this pregnancy, but sometimes I feel I am not doing my job properly. Everything about this pregnancy, including my energy level and capability to complete tasks, is so different from my last two pregnancies. I just feel like I am falling behind and cannot keep up or get ahead. I know that things will improve, they must since the baby's room is still full of boxes.

All I can do at this point is take deep breaths and slow down...hopefully!

August 4, 2011

While we have a gorgeous swimming pool at our disposal here on base, the kids and I prefer to play in our tiny, but functional backyard.

Justin is getting to the point he loves to do things by himself including filling up the pool.

I played around with my camera settings and got this great action shot. They kept giggling with the water going everywhere. It was super hot and humid so the cool water was very refreshing.

Ryan pulled out this Buzz Lightyear Rocket water toy from a box and I was super worried it wouldn't work. Got it for Christmas last year and the Oklahoma winds would have frozen the water before it even hit the ground, so it was great to see it actually work. They LOVE this toy!

(the rocket is just above the white garage doing flips in the air)

It was hot enough, I was more comfortable in my swimsuit than clothes!

Olivia enjoyed taking the pool water and painting with water using some sort of seeded weed bud. She kept painted despite the ground being completely saturated with water. Justin joined her on the steps to watch. I got lucky with a few shots, but of course, none include both looking at the camera lens at the same time.

We're still unpacking the last few boxes, full of random little crap, and trying to find a place for everything. Even though our house is bigger, the closets do not have as many built in shelves as the closets in Oklahoma, so we're down furniture and organizational tools to get everything straight. Got the garage partly completed to put the van back in the garage, just have to stash all the decorations up in the rafters (plywood already up to create a huge shelf). It will be nice when everything is completed!! Pictures to come later!